allonlinenovel Chapter 160 Concubine Zhang's Affair Exposed
Chapter 160 Concubine Zhang's Affair Exposed
The lights in the palace study were bright.
Emperor Rentong sat on the dragon throne, concentrating on reading the pile of memorials in front of him. His brows were slightly furrowed, sometimes he was in deep thought, sometimes he wrote instructions, showing the majesty and wisdom of a king.
Just when Emperor Rentong was concentrating, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly broke the silence of the study. Concubine Li ran in in a panic, panting and saying, "Your Majesty, something bad has happened!"
Emperor Rentong's heart tightened, he put down the red brush in his hand, looked up at Concubine Li, and said in a deep voice: "Why are you so flustered?"
Concubine Li took a deep breath, calmed down a little, and then said: "I just went to visit Concubine Zhang, but I found a man pretending to be a eunuch in her bedroom!"
When Emperor Rentong heard this, his face suddenly became solemn. It was really outrageous that such a thing happened in the palace! He frowned and asked, "Did you see the man's appearance clearly? Is this true?"
Concubine Li nodded quickly and said, "I saw it with my own eyes, and I am not lying. The man was wearing eunuch clothes, but he was tall and had a strange face. He was definitely not from the palace. I felt that this matter was very serious, so I hurried to inform the emperor."
Emperor Rentong stood up and paced back and forth in the study, thinking to himself. Concubine Zhang was always favored by him, but now something like this happened to her. Could there be some hidden reason behind this?
Emperor Rentong stood up immediately, his voice carrying a dignity that could not be ignored: "What did you say? A man pretending to be a eunuch was found in Concubine Zhang's bedroom? What on earth is going on?"
Concubine Li took a breath, tried to calm herself down, and explained in detail: "I went to visit Concubine Zhang today, and accidentally found an unfamiliar eunuch who was acting suspiciously. I became suspicious, so I sent someone to observe him secretly. It turned out that the eunuch was an imposter. He sneaked into Concubine Zhang's bedroom. I don't know what his intentions are."
The eyes of Emperor Rentong flashed with a cold light, as sharp as an eagle. He frowned slightly, fell into a brief contemplation, and then gave an order without hesitation: "Quickly send a trusted confidant to accompany me to Concubine Zhang's bedroom, and we must catch this fake eunuch!"
Concubine Li understood what he meant and nodded her head in agreement. Then she left in a hurry to make arrangements. Emperor Rentong slowly sat back on the dragon throne, frowning, as if thinking about something.
He knew very well that in the palace, even the slightest change was enough to cause a huge storm, let alone such a shocking thing as someone daring to pretend to be a eunuch and break into the concubine's bedroom.
In this deep palace, power struggles and spies are everywhere, and what happened today is probably just the tip of the iceberg. What kind of force is so bold and reckless? What is its purpose? Emperor Rentong couldn't help but feel suspicious, and kept thinking about this series of questions in his mind.
"By the way, what was the eunuch's name?" Concubine Li frowned and tried to recall. After a while, her eyes suddenly lit up and she blurted out, "Oh, I remember, it seems to be Xiao Anzi!"
Hearing this name, the emperor's heart was moved. He thought to himself: "Xiao Anzi? Isn't this the little eunuch that Eunuch Zhao introduced to the palace a few days ago? So..." Thinking of this, the emperor's face darkened slightly, and a hint of sternness flashed in his eyes.
"Someone come here!" the emperor shouted loudly, with unquestionable majesty in his voice, "Bring Eunuch Zhao here! I want to see what kind of conspiracy is hidden behind this." The guards took the order and left, and the whole palace fell into a tense atmosphere.
After the guards had gathered, Emperor Rentong led everyone to Concubine Zhang's bedroom in a hurry.
Emperor Rentong kicked the door open and walked in aggressively. There was silence in Concubine Zhang's bedroom, and an inexplicable tense atmosphere filled the air.
Eunuch Zhao was already waiting in the bedroom with a serious look on his face, and he obviously realized the seriousness of the situation.
Concubine Zhang greeted him with a joyful look on her face: "Your Majesty, how come you have time to come to my place today!" However, Emperor Rentong looked at her with a sullen face and cold eyes, and said only a short and cold sentence: "Come here, search!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Concubine Zhang's face changed drastically, and she said in astonishment: "Your Majesty, what happened? Why did you suddenly search my place?" Her voice trembled with a hint of fear and confusion.
Faced with Concubine Zhang's questioning, Emperor Rentong was not moved at all. He stared at her and responded coldly: "What happened? You know it very well!" The majesty in his tone made the whole room filled with tension.
At this moment, a guard came hurriedly and reported loudly: "Your Majesty, the person has been found!" Everyone's eyes turned to where the guard was, only to see him pulling out a trembling little eunuch from under the bed.
"Eunuch Zhao!" Emperor Rentong shouted, "I have always trusted you. Why did you allow a fake eunuch to sneak into the palace and even enter Concubine Zhang's bedroom?"
Eunuch Zhao hurried in and knelt down. He looked at the young eunuch's appearance and found something unusual: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have always been loyal and would never dare to be negligent. This person is not Xiao Anzi."
"What?" Emperor Rentong looked at Eunuch Zhao in confusion, "This person is not Xiao Anzi? Then who is he?"
Eunuch Zhao carefully examined the young eunuch who was pulled out from under the bed by the guards, and then said with certainty: "Your Majesty, this man is indeed not Xiao Anzi. Although I am old and my eyesight is blurry, I still know my subordinates very well. I have never seen this young eunuch before."
Emperor Rentong frowned. He walked up to the young eunuch and asked coldly, "Who are you? Why are you hiding under Concubine Zhang's bed?"
The young eunuch trembled, not daring to look up at Emperor Rentong. He could only stammer, "Your Majesty, I am a new eunuch named Xiao Shunzi. I got lost and accidentally ran to Concubine Zhang's bedroom. I was afraid of being discovered, so I hid under the bed."
"Lost?" Emperor Rentong sneered, "Do you think I will believe your lies? You got lost and got under the bed!"
Concubine Zhang blinked her big watery eyes and said tenderly, "Your Majesty, I have never seen this person!" There was a hint of grievance and innocence in her voice, which made people feel pity.
However, Emperor Rentong was not fooled by her appearance. He stared at Concubine Zhang's bulging belly, and the anger in his heart burned more and more fiercely.
"Someone, come! Check this eunuch's body immediately!" Emperor Rentong ordered with gritted teeth. His eyes were full of majesty and anger, as if he wanted to burn everything in front of him to ashes.
At the emperor's command, a group of guards quickly stepped forward and surrounded the poor eunuch.
The whole scene became tense and depressing, and everyone's breathing became heavy. Everyone knew that this matter was of great importance, and if any clues were found, it would probably cause an uproar.